Anonymous wrote:I think a trip together sounds lovely. But agree that the week before school starts is NOT the time to do it.

Yeah. That's a no brainer.

Anonymous wrote:Hershey hotel- do luxiourous spa treatments, eat great meals, super outlet shopping and other adult bonding time!

That's a trip for a group of 50 year old friends.

I didn't have any exams for senior year (had taken ap classes / wrote term papers) and my mom and I went off for a special vacation during exam week (i.e. Late May) and I was back for graduation and graduation parties. I would have been pretty grumpy about going some where the week before college ... I just wanted to relish that time at home with family and friends. 20 years later I remember my mother daughter trip fondly, in part because the timing worked well. Also, it was somewhere I'd wanted to go for years and my mom was very hesitant about whether she'd like it (we actually went to a foreign country and my mom's not big on travel). I understood she was putting me first and was hugely appreciative.

I think a trip together sounds lovely. But agree that the week before school starts is NOT the time to do it.

OP,
Think about this. If you were moving out of your house, would you want to take a vacation the week before you left? Stay home, take DD shopping, take her to lunch, go get a manicure, etc.

Bermuda cruise out of Baltimore. Or just Bermuda, period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your daughter on board with this? I'm only asking because the week before I went to college I really wanted to spend as much time as possible with my high school best friends who were going to other places. Looking back, my mother was so patient and sweet about how I was much more concerned about spending time with them, and not her.

Maybe Ocean City for a few days? Stay in a nice hotel, hit the beach, do some biking, walk the boardwalk/beach at night.

I agree. I think you'll have a better reception to the idea if you do it maybe three or four weeks before she departs for college.

+1. The week before our DD left for college there were tons of last minute errands, good-byes with her HS friends, and it takes a while to get everything packed and organized. She wanted to be home, in her bed, with her favorite home cooked meals, taking baths, etc. Even though they are excited, they are also stressed/anxious. Our DD would not have been happy if we surprised her by taking her out of town that last week.

Bermuda cruise from Cape Liberty NJ?